THE ALPHA'S FORBIDDEN FLAME.

Talia's POV

Ramon had barely left my room when the shouting started.

At first, I thought it was my imagination. My heart was still pounding from our argument, from the things Selene said, from the way Ramon looked at me like I had stabbed him with words.

Then I heard it again.

The horn.

Something was wrong.

Before I could even move from the bed, the door flew open.

Karon.

He didn't knock. He didn't smile. He didn't joke.

That alone scared me.

"Get up," he said quickly. "Put your shoes on. Stay behind me."

"What's happening?" I asked, already sliding off the bed.

"Rogues," he replied. Just one word.

My stomach dropped.

"They're inside?" I whispered.

"Close enough," he said. "Alpha ordered me to stay with you. No matter what."

That word again.

Ordered.

He positioned himself between me and the door like a wall. Outside, I could hear boots running, voices shouting, metal clashing.

My heart was racing so fast I thought I might faint.

Minutes passed. Or maybe it was longer. Time felt strange.

Then... silence.

A guard finally spoke outside the door. "One rogue captured. The area is secured."

I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Karon didn't relax though. Not even a little.

"Still not over," he muttered.

Later, when things calmed down, a woman I didn't recognize came to the door. She wore long robes, her hair streaked with gray, her eyes sharp and old.

"The elders request your presence," she said.

Request.

But the way she said it didn't sound like I had a choice.

Ramon was already there when I entered the council chamber.

I felt him before I saw him.

He sat at the center of the table, hands on the table, his face calm but tight. He didn't look at me.

Good.

I didn't want him to.

The room was large. It had stone walls.

The elders sat watching everything.

Watching me.

I hated that feeling.

I folded my arms, trying to look braver than I felt.

One of the elders spoke. A tall man with silver hair and cold eyes.

"The rogue we captured was questioned."

My chest tightened.

"And?" Ramon asked.

"He confirmed what we suspected," another elder said, a woman this time.

"The attacks are not random."

I swallowed.

"They are after her," the first elder continued, looking straight at me.

My heart slammed hard.

"She is the target."

The room felt like it tilted.

"Why?" I asked before I could stop myself.

No one answered me immediately.

"The rogue believes," the woman elder said slowly, "that taking you would weaken the Alpha. It would divide the pack and force submission."

I felt suddenly small.

Like prey.

"So I'm bait," I said flatly.

"That depends," another elder replied. "On what we decide to do with you."

That made my blood boil.

"With me?" I snapped. "Or about me?"

Silence.

Ramon shifted slightly. "She is not a thing, Jared" he said.

The elders started arguing among themselves, voices overlapping.

"She must be guarded at all times."

"She should not leave the grounds."

"No, use her presence to draw them out."

"Force the bond. That will protect her."

My head was spinning.

"What bond?" I demanded.

The room went quiet.

Ramon's jaw clenched.

"That will not happen," he said sharply.

One elder leaned forward. "We should have a say in this matter, Alpha."

Ramon's voice was low. Dangerous. "I decide whatever happens."

I stepped forward before I could think better of it.

"Does anyone here care what I want?" I asked.

A few elders looked uncomfortable. One sighed.

"This is bigger than you," he said.

That hurt more than anything else.

"So I don't matter?" I asked quietly.

"You matter," the woman elder said. "That is why this war exists."

That wasn't comforting.

They talked more.

There were plans.

More guards, restrictions and training.

More walls closing in around me.

Finally, they decided.

I wasn't allowed to leave the pack grounds.

Karon would stay assigned to me.

Training would continue.

Extra guards.

No unnecessary movement.

Ramon sat still through all of it.

When it ended, the elder looked at me. "You will be protected."

I laughed bitterly. "That's not the same as being free."

No one disagreed.

As we were dismissed, something strange happened.

The door opened.

The captured rogue was being dragged past the chamber, bound, bleeding and smiling.

He was smiling.

His eyes met mine.

And he spoke.

"She won't be safe where you hide her."

The guards pulled him away, but his words stayed.

They wrapped around my chest like chains.

I turned slowly to Ramon.

His face had gone pale.

And in that moment, I knew one thing for certain.

This war wasn't coming.

It had already begun.